HELSINKI, Jan. 10 (Xinhua) -- Finnish Prime Minister Juha Sipila was besieged by new suspicions on Tuesday that he might have used influence to favor Chempolis, a biotechnology company that is partially owned by his children.
Two investigative stories on the subject were published on Tuesday by two different media outlets.
The newspaper Iltalehti headlined the 100-million-euro (106 million U.S. dollar) contract that Oulu-based company Chempolis obtained in India on the last day of Sipila's official visit to India in early 2016. Chempolis claimed the deal had been prepared in advance and said the suspicions were politically motivated.
Later, national broadcaster Yle reported that Chempolis was cash strapped and on the verge of insolvency before the state-owned energy giant Fortum became the main owner of Chempolis last October. Fortum infused six million euros into the company, said Yle.
Yle found out Fortum had started preparing the investment in the ailing Chempolis soon after Sipila took control of state-owned corporations in 2015. Traditionally, the duty belongs to some other cabinet minister.
Sipila issued more than one statement on Tuesday denying any favoritism.
He said excluding Chempolis from the entourage of Finnish business people on his tour to India would have been discrimination. Sipila said he discussed biofuels with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and finance minister Arun Jaitley on a general level only.
Regarding the Fortum investment, he said Fortum had taken the decision to enter Chempolis independently. A Fortum representative told Yle that the energy giant was planning to build a biorefinery in Finland using Chempolis technology.
Chempolis has recorded losses since it started operations in 1995. During the 2000s, there were several news reports about its plans in China, including a major biorefinery, but they never materialized.
Chempolis received bad publicity as a user of Finnish public investment assistance and the authorities stopped payments to it in 2011.
Before entering politics, Sipila was an IT millionaire. When he became the chairman of the Center Party in 2012, Sipila sold his personal investment company Fortel Invest to his children.
The suspicions about Chempolis made headlines only weeks after allegations that a company owned by Sipila's relatives had won a contract with the state-owned Terraframe mining operation. Sipila denied any foul play.
Commenting on the latest situation involving Sipila, Heikki Kulla, a former professor of administrative law at Turku University, told Yle that Sipila may not have had a clear picture of how the position of close relatives impacted a person with a public role.
Kulla said Sipila's approach was different from those who have a political or administrative background. Kulla said that civil servants or judges usually instantly realize they have to avoid making decisions where close relatives are involved.
